Do you know the only difference between a piece of black coal and a priceless diamond is the amount of pressure it has endured?

The way you handle adversities will break you or make you. We need to know that God is in complete control of our lives. Problems can either defeat us or make us stronger. It's up to you!

When the troubles of life attack you remember that you are not the victim, you are the Victor!

When I teach or write about how we can win men and mobilize them to serve God, I recall my experience while growing in the ministry to which God called me. I have learned the value of this beautiful work of winning and shaping men according to Christ's character.

You must know this:
1. God's plan is to save our souls.
2. God has called you to deliver people from the slavery ofsin.
3. You must believe in people.
4. You must love other people."

Our Scripture: Romans 8:26-39 (NLT)

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will.
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

1. First you need to seek the Lord
2. You need a Vision of His Rewards
3. There are practical things to do in order to keep on track to your Rewards
4. You to know where you will receive the Rewards

Illustration
We need to have the right perspective of life. Life is too short to be wasted in things that don't matter.

Some people when they go on vacation, they get to the hotel room and they unpack everything. They take it all out of the suitcase and put it into those bureaus. I think I did that once when I was staying in the same place for three weeks. But if I'm only going to be around for a week or a few days, I don't even bother to unpack. I just leave everything in the suitcase and when I need it, I just take it out.

I. "SMALL IN YOUR OWN EYES . . ."

1 Samuel 15:17
17 Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.
A. Saul and the spirit of intimidation
1. Saul, the first king of Israel, struggled with a spirit that plagues even men who have accomplished great things: the spirit of intimidation. This spirit of timidity, fear, and inferiority leads to all types of destructive behavior.

I would like to approach the subject of our purpose in life by talking about Vision and Dreams. Usually Vision is an experience of seeing someone or something in a dream or trance. Dream is a series of thoughts, images, and sensations appearing in ones mind during sleep.

When I will speak of dreams and vision in this message, I will be referring to the dreams and vision you see inside your mind while awake. We all have such dreams and vision; and both are an integral function of human consciousness. The dreams you see while asleep at night are a metaphor for the kind of thinking that happens when you fantasize while awake. We often call this "day dreaming" or creative imagination.

Without a Vision for the future we cannot have any goals. Spiritual Blindness is much worse than Physical Blindness because the end result is death.

Walt Disney - was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. Walt also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland. Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace, flunked out of college. He was described as "both unable and unwilling to learn."

Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time, did not make his high school basketball team his sophomore year.
Beethoven's teacher called him hopeless as a composer.
Winston Churchill failed the sixth grade. He did not become Prime Minister until he was 62. His greatest contributions came when he was a "senior citizen."
Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he finally succeeded.